Personal
Valerie Bowman was born on November 14, 1956 in Shiraz, Iran, where her father, Dr. James Bowman, ran a hospital for poor children. Her father, a pathologist and geneticist, is Professor Emeritus in Pathology and Medicine, University of Chicago. Her mother, Barbara Bowman, is an early childhood education expert and co-founder of the Erikson Institute for child development. Her maternal grandfather, Robert Taylor was the head of the Chicago Housing Authority in the 1940s. At age 5, the family moved to London for one year, then returned to Chicago in 1963.
She received a B.A.
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in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978, and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.
She was married to William Robert Jarrett from 1983 to 1988. They had one child - a daughter - who is currently a Harvard Law student.
Chicago politics
Jarrett got her start in Chicago politics in 1987 working for mayor Harold Washington as Deputy Corporation Counsel for Finance and Development.
Jarrett continued to work in the mayor's office in the 1990s.
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She was Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard Daley, during which time (1991) she hired Michelle Robinson, then engaged to Barack Obama, away from a private law firm. Jarrett served as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development from 1992 through 1995; and was Chair of the Chicago Transit Board from 1995 to 2003.
Business career
She is currently the CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company, which she joined in 1995.
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